94civicEX

Comptech 22mm old style sway. Been on the car for probably 5-6 years. I was pulling into a parking lot at a 45 degree angle and I heard a huge cracking sound.


What am I do to now?

ewaugh

There was a thead on here about that a while ago. I don't know if you'd still be able to pull it up in a search or not. I'd say try to weld it back if you can someone good enough but other than that I don't really know.

jlucas

For starters, remove the bar until you get it fixed.

Best way is to have a body shop replace the cross member.

94civicEX

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jlucas &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">For starters, remove the bar until you get it fixed.

Best way is to have a body shop replace the cross member. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I was wondering if I should pull it off.

I can only imagine how much replacing the cross member is going to cost.

Has anyone ever had any luck patching it up?

I was think of seeing if it could be rewelded it and add the ASR Subframe Brace:

.1type.

damn that sucks...... take it to a good body......

Targa250R

Very interesting, this is one of the few threads with photographic evidence of subframe tear-out on a G5 Civic/G3 Integra (non-ITR). Thanks for posting and sorry to hear of your misfortune. What are your rear spring rates? Are those subframe brackets Comptech pieces?

Your options are to weld the subframe back together, or alternately have a complete new subframe welded on. I am not a chassis expert so I cannot tell you whether or not your old subframe can or should be salvaged.

An ASR or Comptech reinforcement plate should be on your list of things to get before you reinstall that bar.

94civicEX

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Targa250R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Very interesting, this is one of the few threads with photographic evidence of subframe tear-out on a G5 Civic/G3 Integra (non-ITR). Thanks for posting and sorry to hear of your misfortune. What are your rear spring rates? Are those subframe brackets Comptech pieces?

Your options are to weld the subframe back together, or alternately have a complete new subframe welded on. I am not a chassis expert so I cannot tell you whether or not your old subframe can or should be salvaged.

An ASR or Comptech reinforcement plate should be on your list of things to get before you reinstall that bar.</TD></TR></TABLE>

The spring rates fail my brain right now, progressive 225 to something maybe? They are Comptech Sport Springs with Koni Yellows.

As far as I know the Comptech modifications were installed by an Acura dealership in California prior to my purchasing. I'm pretty sure that the brackets are the ones that came in the Comptech kits at that time.

JunY

Here's the article that you guys are looking for.

https://honda-tech.com/zero...age=1

FlyZlow

Nah. The one you're looking for is this -&gt; https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1483618

Pics are down for some reason right now, but maybe they'll be back by the time you view this. My buddy Jon (OP in thread above) tore his subframe open at Firebird. He had a pro welder in Vegas patch it back up for him and has raced on it a couple weekends since then with no trouble. His tear was much worse than yours as it basically cracked the whole subframe in half and tore it away from the unibody partially. The trick apparently is to use a thin gauge metal plate as a patch and use rosette welds for strength. I'm sure that your little tear will be easily repairable and will be good as new with a little TLC.

saver

shita. my friend bought a eg si awhile ago. it was crashed. the subframe was cracked and probaly going to get worse so he just bought a new one from honda. complete to. i think he said either 200 for it and 100 for installation or 300 for it and 100 for installation. its so worth it to replace it if its bad. with yours i say take it to a shop and see wats up. do not take it to a shop that will just say "o ya its bad alright" just cause they want your money. take it to a shop that is trustfull.

lastturn

is it the bar or the hard driving that makes it rip??

asmallsol

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by lastturn &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">is it the bar or the hard driving that makes it rip??</TD></TR></TABLE>

Mix of the two. The bigger the bar, the higher the chance, however with proper subframe braceing, it can basicly be eliminated. Also, some bars are more common with subframe tearout. I have heard a larger number (still very small number as I don't hear of too many people with subframe tearout) of owners of the Skunk2 Rear sway bar and there logic was the way the brackets were designed, it had the bar farther away from the subframe, causeing more sheering stress on the mounting points.

Also, your car depends also. 6G civics have a much higher rate of subframe tearout due to the place honda decided to place the rear swaybar mounts. Also, by having very soft spring rates with a big rear swaybar, the chances of subframe tearout increases because the rear swaybar is making up for the lack of spring rate (remember the rear swaybar is a tortional spring) and puts more sheering stress on the subframe. If you drive your car like the average american, you'll never have to worry about subframe tearout even if you are riding with stock springs, however, if you track or autocross your car, it is defently something to worry about.

saver

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by asmallsol &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Mix of the two. The bigger the bar, the higher the chance, however with proper subframe braceing, it can basicly be eliminated. Also, some bars are more common with subframe tearout. I have heard a larger number (still very small number as I don't hear of too many people with subframe tearout) of owners of the Skunk2 Rear sway bar and there logic was the way the brackets were designed, it had the bar farther away from the subframe, causeing more sheering stress on the mounting points.

Also, your car depends also. 6G civics have a much higher rate of subframe tearout due to the place honda decided to place the rear swaybar mounts. Also, by having very soft spring rates with a big rear swaybar, the chances of subframe tearout increases because the rear swaybar is making up for the lack of spring rate (remember the rear swaybar is a tortional spring) and puts more sheering stress on the subframe. If you drive your car like the average american, you'll never have to worry about subframe tearout even if you are riding with stock springs, however, if you track or autocross your car, it is defently something to worry about.</TD></TR></TABLE>

so your saying is this:
*bigger rear sway bar + less spring rate = subframe tear out and steering strees
*bigger rear sway bar = oversteer
*perfect spring rate + perfect rear sway bar diameter + strong subframe = perfect ride

sumyungguy

Same thing happened to me..I had a hole the size of a silver dollar on one sided and a crack on the other. I just got the Comptech brace (like the asr) and made plates (basically large washers) for the sway bar to bolt through.

These are the pictures I have frome when it happened. (over a year ago) and Ive done a few autocross events and havent had any problems.








Modified by sumyungguy at 11:01 AM 5/29/2006

slofu

wait, you didn't repair the subframe, you just bolted the plates and the new bar over the tear?

sumyungguy

Yeah.. the two sides sandwiched the subframe. I made the plates so the tie bar could not move around (the tie bar bolts to the lca's as well). The sub frame didnt rip from the car, the sway ripped out of the sub frame. The OP has the same problem, so my fix would work in his situation. There have been cases where the subframe ripped off the body, thats way bad and $$$.

lastturn

never ripped one. can you tell if it rips while driving?

94civicEX

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by saver &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">shita. my friend bought a eg si awhile ago. it was crashed. the subframe was cracked and probaly going to get worse so he just bought a new one from honda. complete to. i think he said either 200 for it and 100 for installation or 300 for it and 100 for installation. its so worth it to replace it if its bad. with yours i say take it to a shop and see wats up. do not take it to a shop that will just say "o ya its bad alright" just cause they want your money. take it to a shop that is trustfull.</TD></TR></TABLE>That would be awesome if Honda would do it that cheap. But, for some reason I doubt that?
I never have auto-x'd my car or anything, just daily driving and the occasional spirited drive. When I heard the large tear I was just pullling into a parking lot. I had recently pulled my blades off and put my 16's on, so the lack of sidewall probably didn't help.

91gst

yeah you may want to just get it welded and reinforced so that you dont risk ripping another subframe. when i had my mechanic install my rear sway bar on my da i had him weld in brackets to the subframe to reinforce it and then bolt up the bar to the brackets. I havent had any problems and the car is strictly for track so you know it gets abused. you might want to consider this because it will probably be better in the long run.

Mr Hammond

Actually I had the same thing happen with my '99 Si. I had the Skunk2 rear bar on and had sub-frame damage. I bought a new rear cross member from Majestic for $9X.XX plus shipping and had a local body shop install it. I sold the Skunk2 bar and used the Beaks kit for about a year or so with no problem, but my car was stolen. Using the Beaks kit on my new car. We'll see how it goes.

edit: I see you have a '99 GSR. You can get it from an online Acura store for about $140.00. Check with user len @ Baranco Acura and see what he can do for you.

saver

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 94civicEX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">That would be awesome if Honda would do it that cheap. But, for some reason I doubt that?</TD></TR></TABLE>
o damnit, sorry for the wrong info. i forgot to add that he works there so he got a discount. it drives good.

AW

Ripped my sub frame on both sides a long time ago with the Skunk2 rear sway bar. Yes, I had stiffer than stock springs. Tein 8 kg/mm Just had mechanic weld it back up and had not torn since...

94civicEX

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AW &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Ripped my sub frame on both sides a long time ago with the Skunk2 rear sway bar. Yes, I had stiffer than stock springs. Tein 8 kg/mm Just had mechanic weld it back up and had not torn since...</TD></TR></TABLE>This is reassuring. Do you have pictures of the fixed welds?

rmcdaniels

I'd still reinforce the area after you get it welded up. The ASR brace looks nice, although I just made my own for $50.

94civicEX

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rmcdaniels &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'd still reinforce the area after you get it welded up. The ASR brace looks nice, although I just made my own for $50.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yea, for sure. It's sounding like a lot of you think it could be welded.